Devotions: Catching our breath

CATCHING OUR BREATH

When my son was growing up, we lived in the Finger Lakes section of New York. It is a beautiful area, filled with lakes and woods and hiking trails.  One of our favorite hiking places was Watkins Glen, with a park and several trails developed around a huge gorge, a remnant of the ice age centuries ago. 

Depending on the trail we chose, the people in the group, our physical conditions, and baggage (such as babies in backpacks), we needed to stop now and then to catch our breath. This came naturally - we didn't need to think about it.  But ponder, for a moment, just what it means to "catch your breath." 

When you're hiking, you can look around at the scenery, retie a shoe, readjust or trade a load, shed or don a jacket, and assess how everyone is doing.  You can look back down at how for you've come, and up to where you're headed. You can check weather conditions and even sip a drink. There's a lot to do, really, while you catch your breath - though it takes just a few minutes.

Breath is vital - without it we die. To someone in respiratory arrest, each breath from a rescue breather is life-giving. To a woman in labor, breathing correctly can ease the process of birth. To singers and public speakers, breath control is essential. I used to have a stuttering problem, and breathing properly was a key to fluent speech.  Breathing deeply helps us relax, and can even reduce anxiety and blood pressure. For all of us, whether we are working hard or running fast, it is important to stop now and then to catch our breath.

There is something to be said for a church to take the time to catch its breath as well. It can be a valuable time of opportunity.  We take a good look around us, we see what progress we've made on our journey, we take stock of our conditions, we take off what is no longer necessary and put on what we need , we assess the climate, we share burdens.

And we breathe.....we breathe deeply.  It's such a simple process, but one that gives us life.  For in that breath, as God's people, is the very breath of God - God's Spirit. And the Spirit, even in our standing-still, in-between times, is pulsing and moving and breathing life into our weary spirits and tired churches.  A time to catch our breath can be a blessing if it allows us to be more fully aware of God's Spirit moving in our midst - if it gives us time and space to make sure our own spirits are in tune with the Spirit of God. 

I am more aware of this during the season of Pentecost - as Christians celebrate the life-giving breath of God which infused the disciples  of Jesus and led to the birth to the Christian church.  The wind of the Spirit, God's Spirit, still breathes in our midst.  We are the ones who forget, or get too busy, or stop believing that God still has plans and dreams for us - individually and as communities of faith.

As we reread the powerful story in Acts 2, maybe we can take a few moments, or more, to catch our breath - to inhale long and deep and feel the life of breath going in.  For in that breath, I believe, is the very breath of God.

Shared by Rev. Jerrie Shepard Matney